Mask Project Gala chaircouples David and Bonnie Mandarich, left, Nancy and John Sevo. (Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post)

The fashion show: People will be talking about it for a long time, that’s for sure.

I mean, when’s the last time a bunch of gala-goers saw a passle of models, wearing sexy lingerie ride a glass elevator from the top story of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center to the promenade level, where they shared the runway with hunky firemen from the Colorado Firefighter Calendar wearing Lone Ranger-style tie-on masks?

Uh, that would be never.

The 2010 Mask Project Gala certainly pushed the envelope, and in the end it added a spark that’s missing from a lot of events. There’s bound to be a few who didn’t care for the parade of lacy underpinnings and bare chests (the firemen, not the models), but such is life. In the end, it has everyone talking and that’s a good thing because when it’s time to start selling tickets for 2012 (the Mask Project happens every two years) folks are going to want to come back to see what possibly could top it.

THE CAUSE

Interior designer Mickey Ackerman first encountered The Mask Project in Israel, and quickly decided it would be the perfect fundraiser for The Denver Hospice.

Event chair Douglas Kerbs and Roselyn Saunders, who coordinated the benefit’s dance portion. Photo by Stefan Krusze, Special to The Denver Post

Tough times call for creative measures, especially in the nonprofit world.
Folks who once upon a time didn’t think twice about shelling out $500 — or more — for a seat at this black-tie gala or that have reigned in their spending and organizations that don’t adapt and adjust find themselves in a world of hurt.
So when Realtor Douglas Kerbs said he would chair Colorado Neurological Institute’s Dancing for Hope Gala, he knew the biggest challenge would be to cut expenses in ways that wouldn’t be readily apparent.
Dancing for Hope is CNI’s signature fundraiser, and enjoys a reputation for excellence. To have it become a bare-bones kind of thing just wouldn’t do.
The first thing Kerbs and his committee agreed on was lowering the price of admission, from $350 a ticket to $200. Food is another major expense, so instead of an expensive sit-down dinner the committee opted for food stations set up in the cocktail/silent auction area of the Ritz-Carlton Denver. “It was great because people could eat, drink, socialize … keep moving,” Kerbs said. And in the ballroom, instead of having row after row of circular, 10-tops, there were tables of several shapes and sizes. “That way, everyone had a good view of the dance floor.”
By choosing a Palm Beach theme, Kerbs and his committee were able to save on the cost of decor by using votive candles, lamps and mood lighting to create a club-like feel in the party area. Plus, the guests added a colorful touch of their own by “really getting their arms around” the Palm Beach style of dress.
Kerbs also limited the live auction to five items. “And they were all things people would want or could use,” he said. One of the most popular was a progressive dinner for eight in the D&F Clocktower.
“All in all, I am very pleased with the way things turned out,” Kerbs said. Net income is still being tallied, but he said it is in line with projections.Roselyn Saunders and Bonnie Mandarich were the co-chairs; Cleo Parker Robinson and Terry Vitale were the dance judges; attorney Doug Tisdale served as auctioneer. The dancers were Arlene Mohler Johnson, Debra McKenney, Debi Tepper, Bill Ward and Mary White.
Johnson, who partnered with Brook Metcalf of Colorado Dancesport, was the winner of the People’s Choice award; Ward, with partner Allison Whelan, also of Colorado Dancesport, took home the Judge’s Choice award.
Johnson became one of the participants when her husband, Don, submitted the high bid for the opportunity at a previous edition of Dancing for Hope; she is active in a number of Denver-area nonprofit organizations, including the Denver Center Alliance and CNI.
Ward is the owner of Cherry Creek North hotspot MiniBAR; Tepper, a Denver native, is a former nurse and past president of AWARE; McKenney is a founder and board member for Smart-Girls, a mentoring organization serving high school and college girls; and White is the president and chief executive officer of Swedish Medical Center.

“Difficult” economy notwithstanding, the 10th Mask Project and Gala did better than Just OK. Figures released today indicate that 1,200 friends of The Denver Hospice attended the May 31 gala, raising an amount just shy of $1 million.
The attendance tied that of the gala’s first year, and the money represented proceeds from the online auction of 570 masks; sponsorships; and ticket sales for the gala held at Cherry Creek Shopping Center.
The Mask Project had record corporate sponsorships of $432,000 — a 22% increase over 2006. The Mask Project is held every other year.
What this proves, says The Denver Hospice spokeswoman Lynn Bronikowski, is that companies are willing to put money into cause marketing, even during challeging economic times.
The online auction of masks, she added, raised $100,000. That figure tied the record but was achieved with fewer masks: 570 in the 2008 gallery vs. Top sellers included the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama, whose mask sold for $4,400; actor Robert Redford’s creation that went for $2,300; President George W. Bush’s $1,700 mask; and actor George Clooney’s, which fetched $1,100.
Live bidding at the gala was conducted by Gary Corbett, who extracted $70,000 from friends of Steve Chotin in exchange for “The Heavens Smile,” a mask created by Charles Wooldridge that was a true work of art.
The mask was hand fabricated from a mixture of glass, zinc, brass and silver. The glass mixture is a compound of 15% black epoxy that is ground down with diamond pads and polished to create the effect of a starry night. The protruding, smiling face is sculpted to suggest that even in the midst of all that is happening in our lives and the universe around us, there is joy and happiness. Joy is a choice that can be alive, in us through us and around us.
This is the fourth time that Chotin has supported The Denver Hospice in a major way by calling on business colleagues and friends to join together for a collective bid. What started as an idea to create a team bid and generate interest among Chotin Group employees in 2002 has since evolved into a national request for help. Chotin sends letters to everyone he knows, inviting them to contribute to this charitable event, and they respond with enthusiasm.
Since 2002, the Chotin participation has contributed $260,000 to the cause.
“These are challenging economic times, and it certainly is a different world than it was two years ago,” Chotin says. “That’s why I’m so grateful for the outpouring of generosity that allows us to continue our support for The Denver Hospice.
“All of us, at one time or another, are faced with the impending death of a loved one,” he adds. “To know there are programs like The Denver Hospice that provide comfort and support to individuals and families during a most difficult time provides great solace. I’m honored that so many friends and business associates chose to give again to support such a worthy and deserving cause.”
Major contributors were The Chotin Group; The Chotin Foundation; Steve and Robin Chotin; the Tuchman Family Foundation; MDC Holdings; Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Jeff and Carole Schwartz; Mr. and Mrs. Tom Marano; Mr. and Mrs. James Lustig and C.L.F.S., Ltd.; Norm and Sunny Brownstein; Scott and Mauri Zemachson; and Raymond Sutton/ Baker and Hostetler LLP.
A paddle bid special appeal did quite well, too. David and Bonnie Mandarich raised their paddle and gave $25,000 in support of hospice care while others contributed the $100 gifts that auctioneer Gary Corbett said would “buy two tanks of gas for hospice nurses visiting homes.”
KYGO morning host Kelly Ford emceed the gala with Fox-31 anchor Libby Weaver. Speakers included Mickey Ackerman, whose idea it was to have a Mask Project in Denver, and Andrew Hudson, who movingly described what hospice care meant to his family during his mother’s final illness.Pete and Marilyn Coors were there to see the mask that Pete had painted himself go for $300; Coors CEO Leo Kiely also created a mask and it sold for $2,500.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey included a tour for four of the Denver Police Department crime lab with his mask, something that helped bring the selling price to $650.Frances Owens and daughter Monica arrived by way of the GOP state convention where Monica was elected to be a delegate to the party’s national convention in Minneapolis.
Hospice board member Ned Flanigan turned in the $30,000 high bid to buy the 2008 Harley-Davidson Rocker donated by Rocky Mountain Harley-Davidson. His purchase includes masks from Harley riders ZZ Top, actor Larry Hagman of “Dallas” fame, NASCAR driver Sterling Marlin and Willie G. Davidson, grandson of the founder of Harley-Davidson Motor Company.Luann and Micky Miller bought the Vespa donated by Erico Motorsports for their granddaughter.

Pictures from the Mask Project Gala can be viewed at denverpost.com/seengallery

For the high rollers among us, $500,000 could be considered chump change. Easy come, easy go.
But for Beacon Youth and Family Center, raking in a cool half-mil is something to celebrate. It’ll go a long way in helping the residential treatment facility carry out its work in turning troubled lives around. Work, by the way, that began in 1970 when Beacon was founded as Court House, Inc.
Viva Vegas was the theme for Beacon’s 2008 Cherish the Children Gala. Jamie Angelich was the chief croupier;Annabel Bowlen and Pamela O’Neal served as honorary chairmen.
Bowlen, whose husband, Pat, owns the Denver Broncos, founded Cherish the Children Guild. O’Neal is in her second term as president of it.
Interior designers Marc Roth and Jim Pfister, whose clients have included the late New York hotelier Leona Helmsley, once again donated their talent to make the party area — the Hyatt Regency Tech Center’s grand ballroom — come alive. Expert use of color, lighting, glittery backdrops and flowers from Newberry Bros. combined for a look that was pure Vegas Strip.Maureen Brooks of Brooks International booked the entertainment, a host of Sin City’s top impersonators who brought such showroom headliners as Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Cher, Tina Turner and Barbra Streisand to the Denver stage.
Costumed showgirls mixed and mingled during cocktail hour, and led the conga line that brought guests to their tables for a shrimp and chicken dinner. And when it came time for emcee Vic Lombardi to come to the stage, two of them escorted the CBS4 sports anchor to the microphone.
One of the people he introduced was his new colleague at CBS4, news anchor Karen Leigh, who turned quite a few heads in her white satin strapless cocktail dress. Both Lombardi and Leigh enjoyed their dinner with The Boss, CBS4 General Manager Walt DeHaven, whose wife, Wendy Aiello, served as gala public relations chair.
Intentionally or not, the entertainment wound up being interactive.
Never one to just sit on the sidelines, Jim Pfister didn’t hesitate when “Cher” spotted him at the Bowlens’ ringside table and pulled him on stage with her. She plopped a Sonny Bono-style wig on his head and instructed him to sing along. Dude can carry a tune! “You would have thought he was a plant but he wasn’t,” Jamie Angelich confirmed.
Also lured by the bright lights: committee member Suzy Hamilton, who strutted her stuff as an impromptu backup dancer to Tina Turner. “Those Texas girls know how to do it!” Angelich added.
Angelich, who came to Denver from her native Texas, was accompanied by hubby Alan, a retired founder of Janco Partners, and her sister and brother-in-law, Lynn and Jim Miles of Fort Worth.Sharon Magness Blake and Ernie Blake headed the fund-raiser’s corporate committee, and filled their table with such friends as Dan and Aimee Sporer Caplis; Rich and Holly Kylberg (Rich was looking suave in a Sinatra-style hat and suit); David Alexander; and Yvonne and Bill McCallum.Debra McKenney rounded up some amazing items for the live auction, but was unable to be there to see Paul Behr sell them for equally amazing prices. Don’t feel too sorry for her, though: She was celebrating her birthday in Italy.
Committee member Debi Medved helped Behr promote one of the items, a four-day, $20,000 trip to Lake Louise, Canada, for John F. Kennedy Jr.’s Celebrity Ski Weekend, which attracts the likes of Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin and Kevin Costner. With Medved’s help, it eventually sold for full price.
Ralph and Anne Klomp, owners of Trice Jewelers and recipients of the 2008 Golden Cherub Award for service to Beacon Center, donated a $58,000 diamond necklace for the auction; Lasik specialist Dr. Larry Spivak, there with Andrea Bankoff, stayed in the bidding right up to the minute when he was trumped by Charlie McNeil, who bought it for his wife, Judy.
A silent auction, arranged by Kay Burke and Dayla Newberry, was conducted during cocktail hour.
Not all of the nifty presents were up for sale, though. The gift bags, whose contents were obtained by Judianne Atencio, given to each couple included lip plumper and a makeup consultation from Laura Mercier and Neiman Marcus; a Drambuie liqueur miniature courtesy of Lukas Liquors SuperStore; a spa product and guest pass from Pura Vida and Nectar Spa; candle matches, also from Neiman Marcus; a 30 years of music CD donated by Morton’s DTC; certificates from ReJuv Spa and Palms Tanning Resort Certificate; full-size skin care products from Cosmetic Essence; jewelry polishing cloths from Trice; and a certificate that can be exchanged for a Dimension Z Golf Wedge.Terry Vitale, publisher of Colorado Expression magazine, moved up the press date so gala-goers could take home the very latest issue. Not to be outdone, Denver Magazine publisher Michael Ledwitz, at the event with his wife, Wendy, claimed dibs for next year.
Forty-three people served on the planning committee, and a full 95 percent were there.
Others in the crowd of 600: Beacon Center Executive Director Anne Robinson; board president Michael Miller; Karen Dolan; big ticket sellers Sally Rogers and Andrea Gray; Kevin and Ann Reidy; Bonnie and David Mandarich; Marilynn and Ken Carroll (he’s president of Wild Blue Communications); Stephanie and Perry Odak; Diane Mager with beau Michael Martin; and Drs. Patrick Lillis and Kristin Baird, who had become engaged that very night.
Lillis and Martin also had birthdays that day, and so as a surprise to them, the committee had decorated their table with hats, horns and streamers.Dick Saunders was there minus girlfriend Jeanne Portmann, who was out of town; Judi Wolf, who is chairing the June 21 National Repertory Orchestra Summer Gala; Neyeska and Steve Mut, who were high bidders on a Malcolm Farley original in the live auction and a fur vest from Andreas’ Furs in the silent bidding; Michael Dunahay; Bob and Ruth Beriault; John and Andrea Dikeou; Kelly (in a vintage white dress that had belonged to her mother) and David Storrs; Julia and Sarah Peay (Julia got the “award” for buying the most items in the silent auction); Denise Snyder, owner of Mariel’s in Larimer Square; Nancy and John Sevo, who were fresh from a Florida vacation; Lisa and Dr. Rick Schaler (who donated a $3,000 Mixto Micro Fractional Laser treatment); Jane and Skip Netzorg; Judith Hirsch Walker and Jim Walker; Diane Metz Kreider with husband and ReMAX executive John Kreider; Linda Christie Horn with Steve Robbins; Deana Perlmutter; and John Faught.

Quote of the evening: “If you died too rich, then maybe you lived too poor…” Ralph Klomp in his acceptance speech, quoting his father.

Pictures taken at Viva Vegas are at denverpost.com/seengallery.

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com

Yeah, OK, I know that reporters are supposed to remain unbiased and not play favorites. But I love the Colorado Rockies, and have been a fan since the very first Opening Day.
My most prized possession is an Andres Galarraga jersey autographed by the Big Cat himself. And I have filled a curio cabinet in my home office with photos, ticket stubs, balls and caps signed by such other favorite players (past and present) as Vinny Castilla, Eric Young, Ellis Burks, Todd Helton, Terry Shumpert, Juan Pierre, Dante Bichette, Mike Lansing, Larry Walker and Brad Hawpe.
The best trip I take every year is to Tucson for a week at Spring Training.
So, yes, I am thrilled that the Rox have made it to the division playoffs. And I’m working furiously to figure out how to get a live feed from Game 3 to stream on my Treo.
Why not just watch it on TV? Because my job is to report not on baseball but on Denver’s charitable fundraisers, and there’s a ton of ’em Saturday night.
So if you’re not into baseball and wouldn’t mind doing some good for several worthy causes, here’s the lineup:
* SafeHouse Denver celebrates its 30th anniversary by staging a 1970s-style disco ball at the Westin Tabor Center. Cocktails are at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner and the presentation of awards to Steve Siegel of the Denver District Attorney’s office and the Junior League of Denver. Live auction items include a trip to Chicago for a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show and four nights at the Canyon Ranch Spa in Arizona. Call 303-302-6112.
* Cleo Parker Robinson Dance presents Cookin’ with Maya, Laughin’ with Sinbad and Dancin’ with Cleo — a 6 p.m. dinner, auction and program — at the Colorado Convention Center’s Four Seasons Ballroom. Roselyn Saunders is chairing the event; special guests are poet Maya Angelou and comedian Sinbad. Recipes from Angelou’s cookbook will be used for the desserts served after dinner. Radio personality Tamara Banks (Martini on the Rockies) emcees and Moment’s Notice provides the dance music. Call 303-295-1759.
* The first Dawn Denzer Community Leader Award will be presented to LaFawn Biddle during Costumes for a Cause, a fund-raiser for Colorado Neurological Institute that begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom. Tribute also will be paid to Gov. Bill Ritter and his wife, Jeannie. Chef Troy Guard is chairing the event with his wife, Leigh Sullivan Guard; he also created the evening’s menu. Guests are encouraged to come in costume, according to honorary chairwomen Bonnie Mandarich and Deana Perlmutter. CBS4’s Ed Greene is master of ceremonies. Call 303-806-7417.
* The University of Denver Bridge Project presents Patti LaBelle as the headliner for its 16th anniversary gala, a black-tie dinner and auction that begins at 6 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center. Marie and Martin Herzog are the chairmen; 9News anchor Bob Kendrick emcees. Call 303-871-2735.
* Advocates for Children will honor former Denver Nugget Bill Hanzlik at the 11th Red Wagon Ball. Festivities, at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center, begin at 6 p.m. with cocktails, live music, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction. Dessert, a live auction and the award presentation are next, according to chairwoman Amy Krza. Fox-31 News anchors Libby Weaver and Ron Zappolo emcee; Gary Corbett is the auctioneer. Call 303-695-1882.
* Fiesta Colorado, a dinner and awards ceremony benefiting the Denver Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation, also begins at 6 p.m. at the Colorado Convention Center. Sixteen college scholarships will be presented to area young people; in addition, Monique Lovato will receive the Latina Leadership Award while Excellence in Education honors will go to Leonard Baca and Open World Learning. Call 303-534-7783.

Denver Post Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. Her column appears every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

I could make it easy for myself and just list names of the people who weren’t at the Marriott City Center on Saturday night for the High Hopes Tribute Dinner.
But that wouldn’t do now, would it?
Nine hundred, give or take, hauled out the heavy artillery — designer gowns, major jewels, hair and makeup professionally done — to be a part of an elegant and star-studded evening that was chaired by Peter and Cathy Culshaw and raised $750,000 for the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes.
Davis and her late husband, Marvin, as we’ve told you a million times before, started the Carousel Ball 30 years ago when their daughter, Dana, then 7, was diagnosed with diabetes. Twenty-five years ago the family left Denver and moved to Los Angeles so that Marvin, who’d made his fortune in the oil industry, could better oversee his expanding interests. They included show business (he once owned Twentieth Century Fox), real estate and other investments.
They took the Carousel Ball with them — during its Denver years, the ball attracted such as Henry Kissinger and Lucille Ball — renaming it Carousel of Hope and upping the starpower to include not only movie and television figures but presidents and other heads of state.
No other Denver event even came close to the Carousel Ball until the Davises, who have always had a soft spot for their longtime home, started the High Hopes Tribute Dinner. Like the Carousel Ball and Carousel of Hope, it’s a fundraiser for the Barbara Davis Center.
High Hopes has always been good, with entertainment provided by such favorites as Neil Diamond and Bob Newhart. But this year was the best, with Grammy- and Academy Award-winning musician/composer David Foster flying in with such friends as the legendary Smokey Robinson, comedian George Lopez, singer/composer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee to put on a show the likes of which Denver has not seen since the Carousel Ball ended its run in the mid-1980s.
Everyone — from the headliners to the backup singers and boys in the band — donated their services for what must have been a very long day for them. They arrived in Denver around 9 a.m., checked into the Marriott and spent the afternoon rehearsing.
All but Robinson, who was suffering from flu-like symptoms and appeared just long enough to sing two songs, was dressed and ready to party not long after the first guests arrived at 5:30 p.m.
In fact, Lopez’s wife, Ann, proved to be one of the best shoppers in the pre-dinner silent auction. Browsing the Jewels for Hope tables, she spotted a diamond-encrusted owl pin that Barbara Davis had donated for the occasion and snapped it up for the $6,000 asking price.Melly Kinnard, one of the volunteers staffing Jewels for Hope, said Ann Lopez told her she planned to give the VanCleef & Arpels pin to her mother for her 75th birthday.
Katharine McPhee added fuel to the gossip that she has become engaged to longtime beau Nick Cokas, by purchasing the Maui getaway offered for sale in the live auction. Cokas accompanied McPhee to Denver, and fans were wondering if the trip would be used for their honeymoon.

The head table, long and rectangular and situated at the head of the ballroom, was reserved for Davis and the celebrities. They were joined by Davis’ daughter and son-in-law, Nancy Davis and Ken Rickel; Nancy’s son, Jason; and High Hopes Award recipient Steve Farber and his wife, Cindy.
Another celebrity in the crowd was four-time Indy 500 champ Al Unser. There with his wife, Susan, Unser told us he was attending the benefit to honor Dr. Igal Kam of the University of Colorado Hospital, who had performed a life-saving heart transplant on him several years ago.
Earlier Saturday, a ceremony had been held at the hospital to dedicate a new transplant center. Kam is the director, and his position was endowed by the Farber family, in gratitude for the care Steve Farber had received during his own kidney transplant operation in 2004.
Steve Farber has been a member of the Barbara Davis Center board since the start and the Farber and Davis families share a friendship that spans the decades. As Barbara Davis said at the benefit, she and Marvin had been the hosts for Steve and Cindy’s engagement party and had since celebrated many other joyous occasions with them, including the births of children and grandchildren.
Barbara Davis also pointed out that it is fitting to honor one who has had a kidney transplant because kidney problems, sometimes so severe as to necessitate a transplant, are but one complication a diabetic can have.
So who all was there?
From the medical community, Dr. Richard Krugman, dean of the CU School of Medicine; Drs. Peter Chase and George Eisenbarth from the Barbara Davis Center; Dr. Jules Amer, who’d been the Davis family pediatrician; Drs. Georgeanna and William Klingensmith; Dr. Michael Schaffer; and Dr. Richard Abrams, a longtime Barbara Davis Center board member and a co-chair of the High Hopes Tribute Dinner.
From The Guild of the Children’s Diabetes Center: Debbie Gradishar, Connie Pohs, Sally Frerichs, Lisa Corley, Herminia Vigil, Wendy Aiello DeHaven, Suzanne Adler, Gretchen Pope, Georgia Imhoff, Bonita Carson, Helen Hanks, Peggy Crane Epand, Goldie Zerobnick, Sandy Alpert, Adrienne Ruston Fitzgibbons, Margy Epke and Judith Ann Bien, just to name a few.
Also, Steve Farber’s father-in-law, Herb Cook, and his wife, Barbara; his law partner, Norm Brownstein with wife, Sunny; Debbie and Jimmy Lustig; Shelly and Rick Sapkin; Deb and Bill MacMillan; Dana and Chuck Farmer; Lorna and Gerald Gray; Sandy Vinnik; Marsha and Ted Alpert; Alice and Jack Vickers; David McReynolds; Evi and Evan Makovsky; Arlene and Barry Hirschfeld; Ellen Robinson and Mark Schwartz; Diane Huttner; Faye and Wayne Gardenswartz; Josh Hanfling; Sue and Doug Seserman; Jody Epstein and Don Yale; Barby Sidon; Bonnie and David Mandarich; Molly Broeren and Bill Mosher; Robin and Steve Chotin; and Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.

Pictures from the High Hopes Tribute Dinner can be seen at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. Her column appears every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

A cardinal rule in showbiz is to never follow a child or an animal act.
Good thing there wasn’t any big-name entertainment at the 2007 Youthof the Year Dinner because members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver stole the show — as did the purebred Labrador puppy that was on the auction block.
Dozens of young members performed dance routines for the 750-plus guests who’d gathered at the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom on a recent Saturday night. And when the out-loud auction began, Labrador pup was in much demand, eventually selling for $4,000.
The auction, which also featured private-jet trips to Washington, D.C., to dine with Colorado legislators, contributed $175,000 to the evening’s $600,000 profit.David and Bonnie Mandarich chaired the dinner event with John and Katy Shaw. VIP guests included U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter; U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and his wife, Hope Hernandez Salazar; and Steve McConahey, founder and chief executive of SGM Capital and chairman of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver board.
In addition, Realtor Hanne Lichtenfels to help present a scholarship named for her husband, the late attorney and club supporter Reid Lichtenfels.
Youth of the Year honors went to 17-year-old Alexandria Batiste, who wowed the crowd as she saluted both her mother and grandmother and gladly accepted a challenge to mentor other young people. She spoke with poise and grace, then joined dozens of other club members to perform an interpretive dance that was part of the evening’s entertainment.
The Champion of Youth award was given to Patrick Hamill, the founder, president and CEO of Oakwood Homes and a long-time supporter of the clubs. He is a past chair and current member of the Metro Denver board and has helped raise millions of dollars for the organization that serves 8,000 kids from low-income families.
Hamill was praised for his good corporate citizenship by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter and McConahey.
“The continued growth of this event, both in attendance and the money we raise, is reflective of the growing realization by the good folks of this community of the huge need served by Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver,” observed president and CEO Tim Sheahan.
Staples was the event’s Presenting Sponsor. Oakwood Homes was the Platinum Sponsor; Berenbaum, Weinshienk & Eason was the Diamond Sponsor; and CW2 was the Media Sponsor.
Gold Sponsors were the Alpert Corporation, Anschutz Foundation, Denver Broncos Football Club, First Western Trust Bank, FSN Rocky Mountain, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, Howell Construction, M.D.C. Holdings, Inc./Richmond American Homes, Steve & Kathy McConahey, and Wells Fargo Bank.

Photographs taken at the Youth of the Year Dinner can be viewed at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com.

Nothing’s wrong with the tried and true, but the success of Saturday Night Alive 27 was due in large part to a number of new twists.Aaron and Sandee LaPedis were the youngest couple to chair this benefit for the Arts in Education programs of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts; their acceptance of the leadership position was contingent on being able to have a big say when it came to selecting the headline entertainment; and members of the Denver Center Alliance were asked to serve as table hostesses, responsible for filling one or more tables for the black-tie function. Read more…